Abstract

InAlN thin filmsgrown on (0001) templates by metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy were studied by transmission electron microscopy techniques. V-defects in the form of hexagonal inverted pyramids with sidewalls were observed on the films’ surfaces linked to the termination of threading dislocations. Their origin is explained by the different surface atom mobility of In and Al and the built-in strain relaxation. Indium segregation in the films is influenced by the formation of V-defects, the edges and the apexes of which function as paths of migrating indium atoms diffusing along nanopipes formed at the open-core threading dislocations.